So here’s how it worked. I went to barnesandnoble.com, typed in the name “William Cohen,” then clicked “Read Now,” indicating that I wanted to buy the e-book version. It downloaded to my Desktop (well, Downloads folder). Then I had to download and install the reader software.

Nothing too hard. From the reader software, I then navigated to the .pdb file. A little window popped up asking me to enter my name and credit card number to unlock the file. And now I’m reading about Wall Street’s excess!

I even tried reading the file offline and it worked fine. So if you’re trying to read an e-book on the commuter rail on your laptop, without any Internet access, you should be OK.

For the thousandth time, I don’t have an iPhone, nor do I have any intention to, so I couldn’t test that. But, as far as the Mac version goes, it’s not too different from reading a PDF. And that’s not a bad thing.